I recently inherited a huge tub of fabric from my Great-Grandmother who passed away last fall and was pleasantly surprised to find a partially-completed quilt among all the fabric scraps! I would love to finish the quilt as an homage to my Grandma, but I don't really know where to start. Its a hexagonal flower quilt with several pieces already sewn together. There are some completed flower pieces as well as a large section of already-sewn-together flowers. There is a hexagonal cardboard template in the tub, but I think there may already be enough pieces to complete the quilt without cutting more, since there are so many pre-sewn flowers. There are also several small individual hexagons in the same color that I'm assuming are meant to go between all the flower pieces. It already looks like such a great quilt and I would really like to complete it since my Grandma meant so much to me.
Now...my issues/quandaries: is this fabric too old to use? It seems to be in okay condition and the colors are still bright, even, but my Great-Grandma was 104 when she passed away last year and her shaky hands and poor eyesight made it impossible for her to sew anything for at least as long as I can remember (I'm 20, now) so I'm sure the fabric is at least 25 years old or older.
Also, if the fabric ISN'T too old, can I use a sewing machine to sew the remaining pieces together? (Not the batting and back parts, just the hexagons-- I'll get to the quilt sandwich part when I get to it.) I've looked up several tutorials online regarding hexagon-y quilts and I think I understand the jist of it, but no one mentions hand-quilting vs machine-quilting for this particular type.
Finally....(if you hadn't guessed by now) this is my first experience with quilting EVER, and I know its kind of an ambitious project so I really appreciate any help or advice at all. My mom was never big on sewing and HER mom was more of the bake-you-a-thousand-cookies type of domestic goddess, so I don't really have anyone to ask about this stuff. I know my way around a sewing machine fairly well and I've sewn a few pieces of clothing before at a friend's house with her mom supervising/guiding us, so I'm not ENTIRELY hopeless!